Black Sea grain shipment success raises hopes more will follow

Black Sea grain shipment success raises hopes more will follow

NEW YORK — The first shipment of over 26,000 tons of Ukrainian food under a Black Sea export deal has been cleared to proceed toward its final destination in Lebanon. The first, eagerly-awaited commercial shipment of grain to leave the Ukrainian port of Odesa since Russia’s invasion more than five months ago, was cleared to proceed to Lebanon on Wednesday, after a scheduled inspection stopover in Istanbul. In line with the UN-partnered Black Sea Grain Initiative that was facilitated by the Secretary-General on 22 July, the crew of the merchant vessel Razoni and its 26,000-ton cargo of Ukrainian corn underwent checks lasting three hours. The Sierra Leone-flagged ship arrived in Istanbul’s waters on Tuesday evening, after sailing from Ukraine’s main Black Sea port of Odesa on Monday. “A joint civilian inspection team comprising officials from the Russian Federation, Türkiye, Ukraine and the United Nations visited the merchant vessel Razoni this morning,” the Black Sea Grain Initiative Joint Coordination CentER (JCC) said in a statement. “This marks the conclusion of an initial ‘proof of concept’ operation”, the statement continued, adding that three ports in Ukraine were due to resume the export of millions of tonnes of wheat, corn and other crops